The Gift of Hope

Do a quick search of the words "gift of hope" and you'll find tons of agencies, groups, and organizations offering what they believe HOPE to be. For some it can be a coat on a winter day, a tank of gas to get them through to the next paycheck, or a conversation with a crisis counselor in a time of dire need. Hope can take on many shapes and has the ability to mold and mesh to fit the needs and desires of people. Perhaps someone in your life has given you a gift of hope when you least expected it, or maybe, the gift of hope has been offered at times when you felt you were the least deserving of it. Regardless of the circumstance, once the path has been lit, it seems really hard to turn around and go back into the tunnel of despair.

“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all.” — Emily Dickinson

Borrowing Hope

I have often had to borrow the hope of others to get through certain situations in my life. When I didn't have the hope for myself or what I was going through, there's always been someone with a measure more to lend in the meantime. That doesn't mean that the person had to have all the answers to my problems. In fact, most of the time it was just a simple act of giving back the goodness that they had been able to encounter through someone else on their own journey. Giving hope doesn't have to be fancy, neat, or all packaged up. Most often it is found in the messiness of life.

How do we give the gift of hope?

I am a firm believer when we put out genuine gifts of goodness, grace, and hope into the world, it doesn't go to waste. Small steps in the right direction can look like just being a safe space for a friend to say the things that make them feel a little crazy. It can look like instacarting (that's a real word, right?) some groceries to a friend who's sick, and let's be honest, who isn't sick these days? And even easier than that, just a text to let someone know that you believe in them, because in the end, isn't that what we all want and crave, someone to believe in us? It's the simple gestures of allowing someone to rest in the fact that there are better things to come than the moment they are currently experiencing. I think it's time we all join the journey to give the gift of hope and to perhaps allow someone to borrow ours for a season.